Introduction: During the menopausal transition, menstrual bleeding changes for many women. At the same time various hormonal levels such as estrone, FSH and testosterone are changing. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between heaviness of bleeding and FSH, estrone and testosterone across the menopausal transition. Methods: This study was part of a longitudinal study about the menopausal transition (MT). The sample included women not on hormones who were either in the middle or late stages of MT, and who provided menstrual calendar data about heaviness of bleeding and urine specimens for hormonal assays (N=108). Heaviness of bleeding scores were from menstrual calendars calculated as the number of days in a bleeding episode (period) divided by the sum of the amount of bleeding for each bleeding day. Urine specimens were collected on day 6 of the cycle. A sample cross-correlation was computed for each woman between heaviness of bleeding and each hormone. The null hypothesis that the population cross-correlation is zero was then evaluated using a binomial test, for which a value of one (zero) was assigned to each woman with a positive (negative) sample cross-correlation. The null hypothesis was rejected if the sample of zeros and ones was inconsistent with the hypothesis of equal occurrence. Results: Estrone levels had a mean of 22.1 ng/mg Cr (median = 17.15), FSH a mean of 16.5 mIU/mg Cr (median = 11.6) and testosterone a mean of 22.9 ng/mg Cr (median = 19.7). All assays were log transformed. For the total sample there were no significant relationships between heaviness of bleeding and the three hormones. For estrone, a positive correlation with bleeding occurred in 44 of 108 women, p = .07, for FSH, positive correlations occurred in 51 of 108 women, p = .63 and for testosterone positive correlations were for 52 of 108 women, p = .77. Thus, the 3 null hypotheses that the population cross-correlation was zero could not be rejected for the total sample. Within stage analysis found a significant negative cross-correlation in late stage between heaviness of bleeding and estrone (17 of 49 women, p = .04) and a significant negative relationship with FSH (14 of 49 women, p = .004) thus rejecting the null hypothesis for both relationships. There were no significant relationships between heaviness of bleeding and testosterone for late stage or for any of the three hormones for middle stage. Implications: The lack of a significant relationship between heaviness of bleeding and the three hormones in middle stage suggests that factors other than hormones have a stronger influence on menstrual bleeding during that stage. In late stage both FSH and estrone levels were higher than in middle stage while heaviness of bleeding decreased. These changes help explain the significant negative correlations. Funding Sources: NINR R01-NR04141; NINR P30 NR04001.

Full metadata record

Relationship Between Bleeding and Hormones Across the Menopausal Transition

en_GB

dc.identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10755/157848

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dc.description.abstract

<table><tr><td colspan="2" class="item-title">Relationship Between Bleeding and Hormones Across the Menopausal Transition</td></tr><tr class="item-sponsor"><td class="label">Conference Sponsor:</td><td class="value">Western Institute of Nursing</td></tr><tr class="item-year"><td class="label">Conference Year:</td><td class="value">2006</td></tr><tr class="item-author"><td class="label">Author:</td><td class="value">Mitchell, Ellen, PhD, RN</td></tr><tr class="item-institute"><td class="label">P.I. Institution Name:</td><td class="value">University of Washington</td></tr><tr class="item-author-title"><td class="label">Title:</td><td class="value">Associate Professor</td></tr><tr class="item-address"><td class="label">Contact Address:</td><td class="value">School of Nursing, Box 357262, Seattle, WA, 98105, USA</td></tr><tr class="item-phone"><td class="label">Contact Telephone:</td><td class="value">206-616-4938</td></tr><tr class="item-email"><td class="label">Email:</td><td class="value">nellem@u.washington.edu</td></tr><tr class="item-co-authors"><td class="label">Co-Authors:</td><td class="value">Donald Percival, PhD; Eunice Yun Tao, MD; Kathleen Smith-DiJulio RN, MA; and Nancy Woods, RN, PhD, FAAN</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="item-abstract">Introduction: During the menopausal transition, menstrual bleeding changes for many women. At the same time various hormonal levels such as estrone, FSH and testosterone are changing. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between heaviness of bleeding and FSH, estrone and testosterone across the menopausal transition. Methods: This study was part of a longitudinal study about the menopausal transition (MT). The sample included women not on hormones who were either in the middle or late stages of MT, and who provided menstrual calendar data about heaviness of bleeding and urine specimens for hormonal assays (N=108). Heaviness of bleeding scores were from menstrual calendars calculated as the number of days in a bleeding episode (period) divided by the sum of the amount of bleeding for each bleeding day. Urine specimens were collected on day 6 of the cycle. A sample cross-correlation was computed for each woman between heaviness of bleeding and each hormone. The null hypothesis that the population cross-correlation is zero was then evaluated using a binomial test, for which a value of one (zero) was assigned to each woman with a positive (negative) sample cross-correlation. The null hypothesis was rejected if the sample of zeros and ones was inconsistent with the hypothesis of equal occurrence. Results: Estrone levels had a mean of 22.1 ng/mg Cr (median = 17.15), FSH a mean of 16.5 mIU/mg Cr (median = 11.6) and testosterone a mean of 22.9 ng/mg Cr (median = 19.7). All assays were log transformed. For the total sample there were no significant relationships between heaviness of bleeding and the three hormones. For estrone, a positive correlation with bleeding occurred in 44 of 108 women, p = .07, for FSH, positive correlations occurred in 51 of 108 women, p = .63 and for testosterone positive correlations were for 52 of 108 women, p = .77. Thus, the 3 null hypotheses that the population cross-correlation was zero could not be rejected for the total sample. Within stage analysis found a significant negative cross-correlation in late stage between heaviness of bleeding and estrone (17 of 49 women, p = .04) and a significant negative relationship with FSH (14 of 49 women, p = .004) thus rejecting the null hypothesis for both relationships. There were no significant relationships between heaviness of bleeding and testosterone for late stage or for any of the three hormones for middle stage. Implications: The lack of a significant relationship between heaviness of bleeding and the three hormones in middle stage suggests that factors other than hormones have a stronger influence on menstrual bleeding during that stage. In late stage both FSH and estrone levels were higher than in middle stage while heaviness of bleeding decreased. These changes help explain the significant negative correlations. Funding Sources: NINR R01-NR04141; NINR P30 NR04001.</td></tr></table>

en_GB

dc.date.available

2011-10-26T20:15:44Z

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dc.date.issued

2011-10-17

en_GB

dc.date.accessioned

2011-10-26T20:15:44Z

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dc.description.sponsorship

Western Institute of Nursing

en_GB

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